Side Stories for Blackout
by ladyhachimitsu
Summary: As says on the tin can, side stories for Blackout that don't fit in with the main story. Including misadventure of Team Seven, different POV, and anything else that happens off screen so to speak. Really should go read main story Blackout to make sense. SI/OC
1. Chapter 1

**Side Story 1**

 ** **Search for the Perfect Picture****

* * *

Suzue remembered in her life before this one a debate among fans about just how much of a teacher Kakashi was. Whether he actually trained Team Seven in anything or just had them do D-Rank Missions all the time and nothing else. Come to find out by actually living a life in which she was a student of Kakashi, he was a bit of both. Some days they would train, and Kakashi would actually tell them if they did something wrong when they needed to fix something, and would even spar with them on occasion. Other days they would do missions, though those were fewer than training days and sometimes they were way too short. Like today.

"Alright you guys, you did great today. You're dismissed for the rest of it," Kakashi informed them nose buried in his book. Suzue eyed it as Naruto protested.

"It's 10 in the morning! You're not seriously dismissing us already?!"

"Mah, you did well. So enjoy your day off," Kakashi waved off then disappeared in a burst of smoke.

"Damn it! We should be getting more missions!" Naruto complained. "And better ones! Like S-Rank Missions."

"S-Rank?" Sasuke huffed with a flickering glance at Naruto. "Like you're ready for such a mission."

"I'm totally am ready for one! You're the one holding me back!" Naruto countered.

"Generally, we have to work up through our mission level. You might have more luck if you lobby for a C-Rank Mission than an S-Rank one," Suzue threw in as she glanced at the two boys on either side of her.

"That's not nearly as awesome as an S-Rank one, though," Naruto pouted before getting a mischievous look on his face. "But there's one S-Rank Mission that we can do. In fact, we might be the only ones to be able to do it?"

"Oh?" Suzue promoted, curious to hear what Naruto was thinking about this time.

"Yeah, to see what's under Kakashi-sensei's mask!" Naruto stage whispers at the two of them.

"We've tried that before and have had no luck," Suzue pointed with a sigh. "So you have better have a good plan for something besides trying to see it when he eats."

"I do! We find all the photographs of Kakashi-sensei and find one that has him without a mask! There has to be one!"

"How do you purpose to getting all photos of Kakashi-sensei?" Suzue countered. Granted photos were rare as cameras were uncommon unlike in her last life, but it still very unlikely to get all photos of Kakashi.

"Um..."

"What about the Ninja Registration Photos? You have to have your face uncovered for those," Sasuke butted in.

"Really?" Naruto blinked. "That must have been why Jiji wanted me to retake photo..."

"Dobe."

"What did you say?!"

"So...how are we going to get our hands on Kakashi-sensei's Ninja Registration Photo?" Suzue butted in before they could get into a fist fight...again.

"Sorry to interrupt, but did I hear you three correctly in that you are trying to get your hands on a photograph of one Hatake Kakashi without his famous mask on?"

All three genin tense and spun to the speaker to see a tall man in a long coat standing behind them. Suzue's eyes were drawn to the purple markings on the guy's face, purple eyeshadow with two, thick purple lines under said eyes. Those looked like clan markings but she couldn't recall any clan markings like those and that eye shadow...

"Crap! He overheard us!" Naruto shouted, jumping back a little and just being over dramatic like normal. "Should we get rid of him?"

"Why? He just heard us talking, no crime in that," Suzue pointed out with a huff. She focused her attention back on the man before them as she cataloged where all the metal was on him. Something seemed off about it but she couldn't place it.

"Though why would you be interested in what we're talking about?" Sasuke asked with narrowed eyes that were nearly a glare.

"I'm called Sukea and I'm a photographer. I'm currently looking for my next big scoop and a picture of an unmasked Kakashi would be big. Even if it did get shut down," the man informed them with a crooked smile. Suzue noticed a small mole on the left side of the man's chin and that mole tugged on a memory. She had seen that before, just not in this life, and in a picture, not real life.

"Really? So you're like looking to help us?" Naruto questioned, studying the man.

"I would like to join you three on this adventure."

"Why? What's your motive?" Sasuke asked, eyes still narrowed.

"Like I said I was looking for my next big scoop and a picture of an unmasked Kakashi would be big. I'm sure to make lots of money from it even if it's hushed up," Sukea explained with a smile playing on his lips.

"Hey, hey! When you make lots of money will you buy us ramen?!" Naruto demanded, making Suzue facepalm.

"Really, Naruto?"

"I'll even throw in some dumplings!" Sukea agreed.

"Seems interesting," Sasuke muttered, a smirk working its way across his face.

"Guess you're in," Suzue shrugged at the tall man. He beamed at them. The four of them proceeded to make plans for breaking into the Records Department to find an unmasked photo of one Hatake Kakashi.

* * *

Later that night found the four of them dodging the patrol and guards surrounding the Records Department Building based on information Naruto had gotten for them. Suzue was mildly impressed that he could get such information on short notice. Sukea had revealed that he had been a former ninja but was retired now so he could easily keep up with them. They made their way to one of the locked doors that lead to the Records and Suzue stepped forward to unlock the big lock that seemed to be the only thing keeping people out.

Focusing on the metal of the lock the lavender-haired girl was able to Push and Pull the locking mechanisms inside it to the unlock position. She carefully removed the lock and placed on the ground so as to not make noise. Sukea then came forward to check the door and the inside of the building for guards or traps. He gave the okay and the three genin entered.

"Wow, it's so big! Do we have to search everything?" Naruto whispered.

"No, but we should hurry," Sukea answered. The genin nodded and all four of them took off to begin their search.

Suzue was certain that there was an organization to all the files here but she wasn't high enough clearance level to know it. Sukea had known enough about the way this place was organized to narrow down their search to a small section but didn't know enough to tell you where Kakashi's Registration Paperwork was exactly. So searching every file it was.

It took barely an hour after they started before Sukea called out in low tones that he had found the file they were here for. Suzue put the files she was flipping through back in their file box before joining her teammates over by Sukea who was already opening the file.

"This is it," Naruto mumbled, eyes wide as he stared intently at the paper Sukea was slowly pulling out. Then Suzue noticed that she could sense metal moving towards them at extreme speed.

"Guys, we have company," was all the girl was able to get out before a squad of ANBU appeared behind them.

"Don't move," one of the ANBU ordered in a genderless voice. "We are taking you all in. If you move we will take that as resistance and take appropriate actions..."

None of them moved, then Naruto said in a trembling voice. "I-I have to sneeze."

The four of them ended up spending the rest of the night in a cell together. Well the boys did, Suzue ended up in the one next to them. The next morning started with Kakashi coming to get them and getting lectured by the Hokage about breaking into Secret Government Buildings. Most of that lectured was actually directed at Naruto as if their village leader suspected that Naruto was the sole reason any of them had come up with the idea to break into the place in the first place. Naruto didn't seem to notice and Suzue, Sukea, and Sasuke weren't going to be saying anything to him about it.

Kakashi questioned them about what they were doing once the Hokage let them go. Except Suzue was rather distracted by the fact that Kakashi-sensei was, in fact, a shadow clone.

"Really? An infiltration mission?" Shadow-Clone-Kakashi asked Sukea, whom he seemed to know after they explained what they had been up to. Suzue looked between the two men and thought they looked alike...a little. That mole was still bothering her.

"I'm so sorry...I did try to stop them but they insisted and I thought I should go with them just in case," Sukea lied. Suzue glared at the tall man and blinked. Then she looked at Shadow-Clone-Kakashi-sensei as Naruto called Sukea out on his lie.

"They just wanted to see what you look like," Sukea continued on ignoring Naruto. Suzue shifted a little then held up her hand so she was covering Sukea's face with it in her view.

"You're a former Black Ops Member, correct?" Shadow-Clone-Kakashi asked in an annoyed tone before continuing, "Honestly! Who cares what I look like under my mask?"

Sukea let out a chuckle and rubbed the back of his head. Suddenly it clicked just why that mole was bugging her. Kakashi-sensei had the same mole on his chin. She remembered from the couple of shots that revealed what Kakashi looked like under his mask. It, of course, looked different in real life, especially since Kakashi-sensei was also disguising himself with purple eyeshadow of all things and probably a wig. Suzue had to admit, disguising oneself with how your face actually looks was kind of cool.

Shadow-Clone-Kakashi dismissed them as it was supposed to be their day off and the four of them regrouped. Mostly so the boys could confront Sukea about throwing them under a bus.

"You've got some nerve blaming us!" Naruto snapped with a glare at the curly-haired man.

"I thought it was odd. You a skilled, former ANBU member asking us for help when you could have just done it on your own," Sasuke pointed in annoyed tones.

"You're kind of awesome," Suzue couldn't help but giggle now that she knew the secret. Though she wondered if Kakashi was making this a training exercise or was just messing with them just because, it was often hard to tell with him.

"Suzue-chan!" Naruto whined as both boys turned to stare at her with betrayal. "You're supposed to be on our side."

"Well, he did do what a ninja would do. It's sort of our own fault for trusting him so easily and not looking underneath the underneath," Suzue pointed as she covered her mouth to stop more giggles. They just glared at her.

"I am sorry about putting the blame on you three though and I would like to make it up to you all," Sukea offered with a faint smile. Suzue had to admit if she hadn't known what Kakashi had actually looked like she was sure she would have never guessed it was him. He stood up straighter than their sensei and he kept his eyes opened all the time instead of the half lazy-lidded look he nearly always wore. He also had to have had good colored contacts to keep his eyes from looking like they were two different colors.

"What are you offering?" Naruto asked turning his glare from his teammate to the older man. Sasuke also turned, curious.

"I'll photograph Kakashi-sensei's face myself."

"How?" Sasuke asked.

"While he's eating would be the best bet," Sukea suggested. "I have this camera with multi-exposure camera I built, we should get at least one picture of him."

"Really? That must have cost a fortune," Suzue noted. Camera's were hard to come by and she doubted that Kakashi actually built it himself but someone did and she was sure it would have cost a lot just to rent the thing.

"I do well," Sukea chuckled.

After several plans on how to get Kakashi-sensei to a restaurant, Team Seven found themselves on a bench outside a teahouse with what Suzue was sure was another Shadow Clone but had wised up and was actually wearing metal. It was that or Sukea was the Shadow Clone now and they had switched at some point.

"You guys didn't have to get me something as an apology for breaking and entering secure government buildings," Kakashi told them with his signature eye-smile.

"Well, it was our own fault for getting caught," Suzue pointed out with a pout. "And we got you in trouble because of it."

"Uh-huh! So eat up! It's our treat!" Naruto ordered as he bounced in his seat.

"This was totally Suzue-chan's idea wasn't it?" Kakashi mused as he picked up one of the sticks of dango. Both boys shook their heads and Naruto said something about it being all their idea but Kakashi had it right. This one was her idea. "Such cute students."

All three watched as Kakashi slowly reached up with the hand not holding the dango stick to hook his fingers on the edge of his mask. Ever so slowly he started lowering the mask when a loud bark from behind them made the three genin turn to see what had made the noise. Kiba and Akamaru were strolling up to them with the white dog chasing after the pigeons that had been hanging around looking for free handouts.

"Kiba! We're busy!" Naruto hissed at the wild boy in greeting. All three turned around to find that Kakashi had finished all his treats and was pulling out his Icha Icha book.

"Thank you, that was delicious," Kakashi smiled at them as he flipped open his book and stood up. "I'll be going now, I'll see you three tomorrow."

"Bye sensei," Suzue called as Naruto bemoaned the fact that they had once again missed the chance to see what was under Kakashi's mask.

"Sukea should have gotten the pictures," Sasuke reminded Naruto who immediately cheered up.

* * *

Later that afternoon as Team Seven and Sukea meeting to go over the pictures the adult had taken. None of them had turned out.

"Seriously?! Not one?" Naruto cried out, nearly ripping the pictures.

"It's like it was an act of the gods," Sasuke muttered after they had looked at all the pictures.

"Maybe Kakashi-sensei has a face of a god and so they cannot let anyone see it," Suzue suggested with a glance at Sukea. He did have a very pretty face, even with that mole and purple markings. She did wish he would smile wide enough to see if that fan headcanon of Kakashi having canine-like fangs was true or not. Now that would probably be an SS-Rank Mission if just finding out what Kakashi's face looked like was an S-Rank Mission.

"Well, it looks like we're going to have to give up on the mission," Sukea bemoaned, making Naruto deflate into depression.

"Not unless someone has any more ideas?" Suzue offered as she tugged at the hem of her skirt. "Shame they don't have cameras small enough to hide in Kakashi-sensei's apartment."

"That's just creepy," Naruto pointed out.

"If there are no more ideas, I should probably..."

"Hey! Naruto!"

All four of them looked over to where the voice had come from to see that the other six graduates who had passed their jonin test were standing there. Kiba had been the one to call out to them. He had a wild grin on his face as he continued, "We want to help you with your mission."

One planning session later that had Suzue slightly in awe over Shikamaru's planning skills, Hinata was running up to Kakashi to inform him about a drowned woman, who was actually Naruto, that needed rescuing. Sukea was lurking in the woods nearby with his camera ready to photograph Kakashi's face if Plan A actually worked. Suzue doubted it as she knew Kakashi knew what they were doing because he was, in fact, Sukea and he was just trolling them or training them. She still hadn't decided which yet. But this was fun anyways.

She was right and Kakashi didn't fall for Plan A so Sukea had to hightail it back to their second ambush point where Plan B and C were to take place. Suzue was curious to see how Kakashi would get out of these ones. Chouji attacked once Kakashi was in position, distracting him from the swarm that crawled up onto the silver-haired man in his moment of inattention. Then Ino got into place to use her Mind Transfer Jutsu only to have a frog of all things jump into the path of her jutsu as she executed it. Suzue suddenly wondered if her throw away comment about Kakashi's face being that of a god actually had some truth to it.

With Plan B a bust, Shikamaru stepped in to complete Plan C, catching Kakashi in the Nara Clan's famed Shadow Poisson Jutsu. It worked like a charm. Even knowing that Kakashi had a backup plan or something and wouldn't let them actually see his face (if only because she was sure he got way too much fun out of taunting people with what was underneath), it didn't stop Suzue from getting into the dramatic reveal as Shikamaru made Kakashi reach up and hook his fingers on to his mask as the man himself protested.

Suddenly, whom she was sure was Hyuga Neji of all people came running towards them with who could only be Rock Lee chasing after him. They were shouting something at each other not paying attention to their group at all even though Naruto was yelling at them. Tenten came running up after them, seemingly trying to get them to stop whatever argument there was. It was then that Suzue realized that the three of them were Shadow Clones. Suzue had to turn away and slap her hands over her mouth to keep the giggles in as she realized just what Kakashi's backup plan was.

Shadow-Clone-Neji and Lee ran in circles at such a fast pass that it made Shikamaru loose control over his Jutsu allowing Kakashi to escape. Except it seemed that Kakashi hadn't planned for himself losing balance as he went crashing to the ground as well only to poof into smoke as his Shadow Clone popped leaving behind a hai-ate, jonin vest, hip pouch, and thigh holster. So that was how Kakashi was tricking her into not being able to tell he was a Shadow Clone.

"A-a Shadow Clone?" Sukea asked in disbelief as they stared out the items left behind.

"What just happened?" Naruto asked in thorough confusion.

"Why did he leave items behind if he was a shadow clone?" Ino demanded. Suzue flushed as she knew why but didn't really want to tell as she didn't want everyone's attention on her.

"So that Suzue wouldn't be able to tell it wasn't him," Sasuke answered making Suzue glance at him. He had a twitch in his right eye.

"What? Why?" Ino asked turning to the girl in question who started playing with the hem of her skirt and pointedly didn't look at anyone who were now all staring at her curiously.

"Because all those items have metal on or in them," Suzue muttered. They all gave various forms of 'huh?'. Naruto rescued her, though.

"Oh, I know this one! Suzue-chan can feel where metal is and Shadow Clones don't have any metal on them because they're all chakra so she can tell which one is a Clone and which one is real!"

"Well, as cool as that is, we should probably get going," Sukea said pulling everyone's attention to him. "And even though we didn't get the picture or to see what was under Kakashi-sensei's mask, I'll still treat you all to ramen and dumplings."

Two cheers from Naruto and Chouji had everyone else grinning or smirking. Suzue went and picked up Kakashi's things to carry with her. She walked up to Sasuke and asked, "Do you think we could use these as a bargaining chip to get Kakashi to reveal what's under his mask?"

"We'll probably have more luck if we got our hands on those books of his," Sasuke shrugged.

"True, and I kind of want to steal those just because," Suzue mused. "Next time, let's try something like that."

"Hn."

* * *

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei can I talk to you for a minute?" Suzue asked after training the next day, hands nervously tugging on the hems of her sleeves..

"Hm, sure, boys run along now," Kakashi said as he shooed the boys off. They both gave her curious looks and she waved them off with, "I'll join you in a bit."

"If you want to talk about any kunoichi things, then I have someone I can send you to because I am not having that discussion with you," Kakashi informed her once the boys were far enough away. Suzue blinked, confused for a moment on what Kakashi was even talking about. Then it clicked and she flushed a little before shaking her head.

"No, that is not it, and I have an older sister I can ask those things of. You have no need to worry, Sensei."

"Good! Now, what is it that you wanted to talk to me about without the boys here?"

"You messed up yesterday," Suzue couldn't help but grin. "You should have been wearing metal when you came to pick us up."

"I just didn't feel like dealing with you three on my day off," Kakashi countered with his own smile.

"Even though you were with us the whole day? As Sukea?"

"That wasn't me. We don't even look alike," Kakashi denied as he pulled out his book and started reading.

"Yes you do," Suzue protested as she jogged after a leaving Kakashi. "You were wearing a wig and purple eyeshadow, which really purple?"

"Alright, I admit, we are related. Just don't go around telling anyone that."

"Really? What are you going to give me for not telling anyone?" Suzue asked deciding to play along. "A picture of you without your mask? Any of your masks? I'm sure you would wear two just to pull that."

"Free food," Kakashi offered as counter offer.

"It'll have to be more than one meal or one time," Suzue countered. "And no skipping out on the bill."

"Would I do that?"

"You've done it multiple times to your cute little students."

"Hmmm, you must have me confused with someone else," Kakashi mused nose buried in his book.

"Seven meals."

"I haven't told the boys," Suzue informed him after she realized that he was making his next offer.

"My offer is still seven meals," Kakashi repeated.

Suzue mused on the offer before eyeing his book. "What about a copy of your book?"

"Not on the table," Kakashi immediately answered as he flipped a page. "I would get into trouble handing this to an underage student. Especially my underage female student."

"But you won't get in trouble for reading it in front of us?" Suzue asked blinking in surprise and slightly taken aback as she was reminded that she was barely thirteen years old and not a fully grown woman.

"You're not reading it and don't know what I'm reading," Kakashi eye-smiled at her before going back to his book.

"...You find loopholes any where don't you," Suzue muttered as she peered at the back of the book to see that there was indeed a no person under 18 logo on the back. Did it have pictures in it or something? Or were the sex scenes really that detailed?

Kakashi just made a noise of agreement that had Suzue rolling her eyes before saying, "Seven meals and you won't skip out on the bill."

"So little trust," Kakashi whined before looking at her. "But I'll accept those terms. We have a deal?"

"Yep, seven meals you won't skip out on for not telling people you are really Sukea and spent the better part of two days running around without your mask on."

"Suzue-chan, I told you, we're related," Kakashi sighed in exasperation, "Not the same person."

"...If you say so," Suzue grinned. "If you make it 14 meals I won't tell that to anyone either."

Kakashi eyed her for a long moment, making Suzue start fidgeting. "Well, seems at least one of you learned something from all that."

Suzue got her fourteen meals from Kakashi. Pretty good deal since she doubt the boys would have believed her if she told them Kakashi and Sukea were the same person anyways. Though Kakashi did take his thing back before Team Seven could use it for blackmail material which sucked. Suzue needed to improve the traps on her home.

* * *

Sorry for not getting the next chapter up like I said I would. I feel really bad so have this side story I wrote. It takes place between chapters one and two and is based on episode 469 'The Real True Face...!'. I hope you all enjoyed and that y'all have a wonderful New Year! I'll try and get the next chapter of Blackout up sometime in the next two weeks.


	2. Chapter 2

**Side Story Two**

 **Kakashi's Point of View - Bell Test**

Warnings: Minor spoilers for Chapter Seven of Blackout

* * *

"I will say this for you, you did at least come at me with the intent to kill, so you're learning...or finally acknowledging me?" Kakashi mused to himself. "Hehe, it seems like I'm beginning to like you guys. Okay, let's get going. Ready, start!"

Kakashi had expected all three of his genin to find hiding places and plan their attacks. Or if one was going to go on straight to attacking, it would be Uzumaki Naruto. Not his quite, shy female student, Hagiwara Suzue. So for a split second, he was surprised to see shuriken flying towards him at higher speeds than should be possible. Not that it was any problem for him to catch the weapons.

But she was on him almost as soon as he caught her weapons. A low sweep kick that he easily jumped over while pocketing the weapons he had caught. The grab she made for the bells was easily caught and he was spinning as soon as his feet hit the ground. One spin and she was sent flying across the clearing straight towards Naruto who was yelling about how that was not how a fight was supposed to start.

He nearly went to pull out his book to start reading because he really wasn't expecting any of them to keep him on his toes enough to not be able to read it when the girl twisted in midair and opened her thigh holsters. A dozen of shuriken fell into the air and were suddenly coming towards him, again at too high of speed. This time he drew a kunai to deflect them instead of catching.

Which he could totally do if he really wanted to.

Suzue landed safely on the ground and was eyeing him. He took a moment to study the difference between this serious kunoichi crouched in front of him, to the blushing, fidgeting girl who could barely speak to any of them. Really it was just her eyes that made all the difference. She still wore the civilian inspired ninja outfit that made her look soft, spoiled even. There was even an overly large bow that held her long lavender hair in a low pony that all but screamed child. It was obvious that she had taken the suggestion of being able to blend in with a civilian crowd to heart. Remove her headband, thigh holsters, and hip pouch and she looked like a noble child that went to one of those elite schools in the capital.

But her eyes...instead of the wide, nearly terrified look she had been wearing up until about a minute ago, they were now narrowed and hard. He could see the calculation going on behind them. Figuring out the best route for her to go and make another grab for the bells. And just like he half expected after that stunt with introductions yesterday, he could see the spine of steel she had but hid.

She was going to do everything she could to get the bells from him. Kakashi just wondered if she would figure out the test or not. If anyone of his potential students would, it would be her.

Not that he wanted her too. He didn't want students, even if he did have to take this team. But if he didn't like them then he wouldn't care about them. They wouldn't become just more people to disappoint in the end.

Then Naruto attacked him. Not that it took Kakashi by surprise or anything. He had seen it coming before the boy had even finished forming the thought. And unlike Suzue, he seemed determined to just beat the crap out of him then take the bells instead of just going for the bells. One blocked punch to the face, dodged spinning kick to the face, and one prepared punch later, Kakashi was behind Naruto his hands forming the sign of the Tiger. Revenge on one red haired woman was about to be served.

Only he had six shuriken come out of freaking nowhere instead and put an end to that plan. He had to move completely out of the way because he was not in a good position to dodge or deflect them in a timely manner. Had he missed Sasuke joining the fray?

No, it was Suzue again. That's right, she could "Push" and "Pull" on metal. Any metal. No hand signs, not even a gesture to indicate that she was about to use it. Just a tug of chakra as far as he could gather from the file on her kekkei genkai. As he watched her easily catch all six of the shuriken, he had to admit...she was going to make for one terrifying Jounin one day.

He just wasn't going to be the one to help. Mostly.

He flickered behind her before she could attack again. She started spinning almost the moment he appeared behind her. Was she a sensor too? No, he suddenly remembered she wasn't sensing chakra, but the metal on him. Well, he wondered if she would be interested in being a hunter-nin. She could be good as one. And he could put in a good word for her.

She stopped her spin the moment she felt the kunai at her neck. Good, she even forced herself to relax instead of remaining tense. The moment she had an opening she was ready to take it. Then he felt a pressure on the kunai in his hand. He could still hold it to her neck but it felt like someone was pushing against it, making it hard to steady.

"You know," Kakashi started in thoughtful tone. "I half expected Naruto to do what you did. Generally, the smart thing would have been to hide and come up with a plan."

"He did what you expected of him, I just beat him to it," Suzue threw back at him, sounding half distracted. Coming up with a new plan of attack then?

"Well, I had been planning on teaching you Shinobi lesson number two, Genjutsu, but I guess you and Naruto will both get Shinobi lesson number one, Taijutsu," Kakashi informed her. It was generally the female on the team who became genjutsu specialties. She was also the most likely of the three to use genjutsu in battle.

"No Shinobi lessons on weapons?" she quipped. Hmm, that was a thought. She would definitely be the one to get that one.

"Lesson number four that I hadn't even thought I would teach today," Kakashi happily told her. And one he hadn't even thought about until this moment. But whatever. "You're surprisingly good with them. For a freshly graduated genin."

Oh, there was that blush.

"Caught you Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto's voice shouted, warning him of the incoming attack. "Now let Suzue-chan go!"

Kakashi will admit to being taken by surprised when the kunai was ripped from his hand by some invisible focus that also sent his arm in a wide arch and nearly pulled his shoulder out of joint. It was amusing to watch as said kunai went through one of the Naruto's heads making it go poof into smoke.

"Hey!" several of the Naruto shouted even as they dog piled him. Suzue, ever the opportunist apparently, took the opening it gave her and went for the bells.

Well, couldn't have that now, could he?

One signless Kawarimi Jutsu and he was gone. Hiding in a tree that was fairly far from the clearing but still gave him a good view of his two students, Kakashi watched as the Naruto clones got into a brawl over who was Kakashi and who was not. He was mildly surprised that not once during that did the blond think of Suzue being Kakashi. Suzue's eyes flickered briefly towards where he was and he wondered if she knew where he really was or if it was just by chance.

Probably that she knew. But she didn't do anything as she focused more on Naruto for the moment as he spoke to her.

"You're not Kakashi-sensei, are you?" Naruto demanded. He took his teammates head shake no at face value and let out a huge sigh. "Man, even with both of us we couldn't get him."

That nervous girl seemed to be back as she started fidgeting with her sleeves. She seemed to be thinking, and Kakashi wondered what sort of plan she was going to come up with next. Her kekkei genkai was proving to be more interesting than he had thought. After all, it was one thing to read about something, it was completely something else to experience it. He had no idea if he was in a danger zone of being attack by metal again. Not to mention whatever she could she do with just the metal on him. Pull all his weapons out of their place then Push them all back at him? Snap his neck by Pulling or Pushing on his headband? Just what were her limits?

"A bell!" Naruto's voice sounded through the clearing. Oh, so Naruto had found his trap. "It's mine! He must have been desperate to escape if he dropped a bell!"

Naruto went running straight into the trap and Suzue was now facepalming. Did she see the trap? Possibly. It was rather simple and made in a hurry. He half expected her to go help Naruto but instead, she used a Kawarimi Jutsu to go talk to Sasuke. Had she figured it out?

He went back into the clearing to retrieve the bell and taunt Naruto for a bit. It was sometimes hard to believe that this kid was the son of his sensei and that terrifying red-head woman but then he looked at Naruto and could see both of them in him. At least in looks.

And now Sasuke had taken his opening to attack. Focusing on where Sasuke was he noticed that Suzue wasn't going with him as he disappeared into the woods. Kakashi hummed to himself as he debated for a moment then decided to see what Suzue was up to as she walked out to Naruto. He'll give Sasuke a couple of minutes to prepare.

"Suzue-chan! What are you doing back here?" Naruto asked her while waving his arms around making him spin in a circle.

"I have a plan to get the bells but need your help," Suzue answered easily enough. So did she figure it out or is she just playing her teammates? Kakashi couldn't decide at the moment.

"Huh? My help? But aren't we supposed to get the bells on our own? And, well, our combo attack didn't work that well either," Naruto rambled at her, still spinning.

"Kakashi never said we couldn't work together," Suzue pointed out. She was right. "And Sasuke's going to help us, but we need to hurry."

"But there's only two bells! Who gets a bell if we all work to get them?"

"You and Sasuke, I can live with another year at the academy," Suzue shrugged like it wasn't that big of a deal. Kakashi wondered once again if she had figured it out or was playing her teammates. "Are you in or not?"

"Alright," Naruto agreed in a tone the suggested he wasn't completely sold on the idea but was willing to go with it. "But I think you should keep a bell and not give one to Sasuke-teme."

"Wait-"

Snickering as Suzue facepalmed again when Naruto triggered the second trap, Kakashi decided to go see what Sasuke was up to.

* * *

Okay, so Sasuke was a bit better than his two teammates in direct combat. Not that surprising since all he did seemed to be training. And not the stealth and trap training Naruto was famous for in ANBU. Or the conditioning training Suzue put herself through that had Gai giving motivational speeches at way too early in the morning with way too many mentions of springtime and youth. No, Sasuke did combat training and it showed.

Kakashi was somewhat surprised when Sasuke went for the bells after he had tied up Kakashi's hands. He had thought the boy would be a bit like Naruto, wanting to beat him first, then take the bells. But it seemed he was more like Suzue; the bells were the goal. Still, Kakashi could get out of it.

Then Naruto ambushed him.

His focus was all on the two boys that he didn't notice that the bells were gone until Sasuke was about to attack him again after a brief argument with Naruto.

"Hn, it actually worked."

A grin spread across Naruto's face as he noticed it as well. "Haha, of course, it's because we're awesome!"

Kakashi glanced around and saw a flash of lavender in one of the trees. "Well, it seemed like you three worked together to get the bells, or one of you just saw an opportunity and took it. So I wonder...which is it?"

It was the first time any of the teams had managed to get a bell from him, let alone both. Kakashi had to admit, he was impressed. Maybe in another life, he would be more happy about this team. But...he was more annoyed in this one. He couldn't get attached.

"We totally worked together!" Naruto shouted at him.

"Then let's see if that's true or not," Kakashi smiled at him. "So can the three of you keep the bells out of my hands until the bell rings?"

They only had about five minutes left. Easy enough, maybe.

He was on Suzue in a heartbeat. Her reflexes were rather good as she actually tried to attack him when he appeared in front of her instead of just flinching back. He dodged and did a brief scan to figure out where she had put the bells. Somewhere hidden. Probably hip pouch. Then she was throwing the shuriken in her hand at him. And that took more skill than he really wanted to admit to using for a genin to avoid being hit with any of them.

And now she was flying. What the hell?

Well, more like floating in the air above him rather than flying but still. Did her kekkei genkai really allow her to do something like this? He guessed so since she was doing it.

He quickly accepted it and was jumping up after her. She wasn't that far into the air. He could reach her and hopefully knock whatever was keeping her afloat out. But, she panicked and knocked herself off whatever she was using to float making Kakashi miss her. Then she was completely out of reach and flying. Sort of.

Watching her move it was more like she was making jumps from one point to another than a smooth guild through the air. Interesting, and then he had to fall back to the ground to the two boys just waiting to pounce. It quickly became apparent that Sasuke was more able to work around Naruto's wild attack method than Suzue was. He entertained them for about a minute before ditching them and going to find Suzue again.

She was still up in the air. Further than before and out of reach of even his jumping ability. Even from the surround trees. Well, it was a good strategy if you knew you could last longer than your enemy. The girl seemed to be enjoying herself up there, perfectly at ease with being up so high. Kakashi was pretty sure anyone else would be terrified of being that high in the air.

Curious on whether or not she could still deflect attacks, Kakashi lazily threw the same shuriken he had captured from her during her first attack. Without even moving she sent the weapons back at him and he re-caught all of them. So she could still deflect attacks. If he wanted to do long range attacks on her, it would have either be a non-metal weapon or jutsu.

The two boys found them before he could decide to do anything else and attacked him. Naruto was once again all over the place. Enough so that Kakashi started wondering if he had even been taught properly in Taijutsu. It saddened him a bit to realize that he wasn't even surprised to think that it was a high possibility.

Sasuke at least was making up for it with his skills. He had been taught properly unlike Naruto and it showed. Between the two of them and Naruto's endless clones, they managed to keep him busy until the timer went off. He was a little surprised Suzue hadn't just tossed weapons at him during the brawl. Maybe she was worried about hitting one of her teammates?

He called an end to the test and looked up at Suzue. She seemed to hesitate for a second before she was suddenly free-falling to the ground. For one heart-stopping moment, Kakashi thought she was going to hit the memorial stone and he was preparing to catch her when suddenly she stopped mid air. He blinked as she hung there for a second, then lowered herself to the stone before jumping off it.

He calmed his racing heart as she passed out the bells to each of the boys. Not even hesitating over doing so.

"Mah, that was interesting," Kakashi said once his heart didn't feel like it was going to beat out of his chest. "I really didn't expect any of you to get the bells, but I guess that's what I get for underestimating Suzue-chan's kekkei genkai."

He was really glad he was facing her as a genin not as a jounin for the first time. If she had been jounin level, he wasn't sure he would come out of that battle alive.

"Hell ya! Suzue-chan is totally awesome and we kicked your ass!" Naruto crowed, looking way too pleased with himself.

"Yet she's the one who's going to be sent back to the academy," Kakashi pointed out just to wipe that look off Naruto's face. And he was curious to see if the boys would just let her go back to the academy. "And won't get lunch."

"Really?! But that's so unfair!" Naruto complained. "She was totally awesome and we wouldn't have gotten the bells without her. Couldn't she pass too and be on the same team as us? We would make a kick ass team! Even with the Teme on it."

At least Naruto wasn't going down without a fight. Would Sasuke?

"Rules are rules, she doesn't have a bell, therefore she has to go back," Kakashi threw in. What are you going to do about it?

"Screw the rules! Right, Sasuke? We all deserve to pass."

"Hn, the Dobe is right," Sasuke agreed. Kakashi gave an internal sigh as Sasuke finished, "We should all pass."

"Is that so?" Kakashi pressed almost hoping one of them would cave. "So you think you should all pass or all fail?"

"Yes," both boys said at the same time. Well, one last avenue to try.

"What do you think, Suzue-chan? Do you think all of you should pass even though you were the one to do all the work in getting and keeping the bells?" Kakashi asked turning towards the girl.

At that moment, Kakashi knew the girl had figure out the test. Before she even opened her mouth to speak he knew she had it all figured out and had been working towards this goal.

He really wished the three of them didn't seem to get along so well. It was going to be heartbreaking when the three of them were split apart later on.

It was going to break his heart too if he was being honest with himself...if they managed to actually stay alive that long.

"I think that you've been trying to play us off each other and that the test all along was to see if we could work together even when it seemed better not to. It was always, we all pass or we all fail, there was no in between."

"Figured that all out did you?" Kakashi grinned at her. He made a note to go through her file more thoroughly later on.

"It wasn't that hard," the girl muttered looking embarrassed. "Iruka-sensei pretty much told us something like this would happen during orientation yesterday."

Wow, a genin who actually listened to those lectures. Even he hadn't really been listening to that speech when he graduated.

"He did?" Naruto asked looking confused. Sasuke, on the other hand, looked like he had just realized that he missed something that had been right in front of his face. Suzue looked like she was trying not to laugh at the Uchiha while giving Naruto a nod.

Nothing else left to do.

"Well then. There is only one course left," Kakashi started giving them all serious looks. "You...PASS!"

They all stared at him as it sunk in. Then Naruto was tackling Sasuke in a hug. The dark haired boy elbowed him rather hard in the ribs and Suzue was smiling at them looking happy and pleased. Kakashi noted that when she finally hit puberty she was going to be fighting off boys at every turn if she smiled like that at them.

He kind of hoped that the team was no more by that point in time because he did not want to deal with a love triangle on his team. Being on a team with one had been horrible enough.

But he hated that a part of him hoped that the team would never be broken up because for the first time in a long time he could see a team that could function and could go places. But that wasn't going to happen. Team Seven's fate had already been decided.

"You three are the first team to have not only gotten their hands on the bells but figured out the test," Kakashi informed them then added on because at least for the time being he could give them this much. They could be a team for as long as it was allowed. "So remember, those who break the rules and codes of the ninja world are called trash...but, those who don't take care of their comrades are lower than trash."

"Yes, sensei," Suzue nodded that steel appearing in her eyes once more. He wondered if she would apply what he said to other teams? He hoped so. She was already marked to be a combat shinobi that jumped from team to team as was needed.

"Great!" Kakashi announced deciding that he was not going to think anymore about depressing thoughts. "And that ends the training. All of you pass! So starting tomorrow Team Seven will begin its duties!"

Kakashi mentally banged his head on a wall when he realized that he had just struck one of Gai's poses. When did Gai become his think happy thoughts person...thing?

Suzue was giving him an odd look.

Had she met Gai yet? Did she know where that pose came from? Gods, he hoped not.

Somehow, after an argument about food, they all ended up at Ichiraku's for lunch. Even him even though he had planned to bail.

He deliberately did not think about the future as he enjoyed the moment with his new team.

It made it seem like they could last forever that way.

* * *

Someone mentioned wanting a POV of Kakashi's opinion on Suzue's kekkei genkai. This somehow translated into my brain as write bell test from Kakashi's POV. Thus here it is. I hope you all enjoyed it and Chapter Seven for the main story should be up. Thank you everyone for reading!


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